Cafe Bleu

I was enjoying the instrumental tracks, they're quite pleasant so took the edge off the Weller vocal tracks. However, in a completely unexpected swerve, rap happened. From Weller. The second hand embarrassment is too much. What the fuck was he thinking. It's so cringey, it hurts.

Ooooooh so, so smoooooth. I could feel my fingers sliding down my thighs, take the underpass and arrive with such desire in my dark soft tunnel. It's the record that made me fall in love with music...and also anal fingering.

Easy listening for pretentious twats.

2 stars for musicianship but what the fuck was this

I’m not a hundred percent sure who this is for, it seems all over the place in tone

The piano was annoying at the start. I thought that that was just going to be an intro, but the shit show just continued. Sorry Weller, but it's just a big pile of wank. Utter horse shit. Unacceptable.

Comfortably the worst album we've listened to on this list. I had hitherto been unaware that it was possible to make music that sounds so soulless.

This was a fun listen. I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about it. I think that’s because it plays with so many sounds and styles. I’d listen again from front to back for sure. Totally different feel from The Jam as Paul Weller intended. But still rooted in great songwriting and creativity.

An extra star for being Paul Weller. Not sure how the hell he ended up doing this dull and boring record. Now i'm gonna have to go and listen to The Jam.

fuck me, that rap track is epic. meandering along on a sea of cafe jazz waiting patiently for shout to the top to come on and then boom, a super 90s funk rap track that you just know had a keytar involved. would happily have taken an album full of that. extra star for that bad boy.

Funky soulful jazzy. Not what I would have expected from Paul Welker but very glad I've discovered it

The kindest thing I can say is that it's pretty ambitious with its genre hopping. However, others have done it much better. This was just annoying for the most part. I couldn't wait for it to stop. That rap track...lololololol Kudos for trying, in 1984 no less, but woof was that bad. That's coming from someone who generally enjoys old school sryle hip hop. It probably doesn't deserve a 1, but its getting it for annoying thr shit out of me. That's always a ticket to 1 star town.

The first half is some great contemporary jazz, in the 2nd half there is some cheese white-boy 80s hip-hop. It's probably a 3.5 but I was so surprised how much I enjoyed the 1st half, I gave it a 4 star.

I really enjoyed the first half of this album a lot. Then it sorta changed around Gospel. Dude started rapping? And like, eh I don't think it's very good. So first half solid, then nose dives.

This might be the dorkiest record on this list.

No words no thank you

A smooth and seamless record, through both its rhythmic jazz and 80s pop backdrop. The Style Council employs colorful chord progressions and brilliantly mastered drums to evoke the 'Cafe Bleu' emotion, and full discretion; to its album's success. Soul meets the blues on this record - although popularly existing hand-in-hand, The Style Council's prior stylistic decisions influence this amalgam, making it a bright and pleasing listen.

Very unique album with regards to it's style: it's got sophistication, quirk, and playfulness. It's the kinda of style that would be later adopted by Vulfpeck with their more funky stylings. Regardless, there's a lot to like about the album but there are some off choices, such as the hiphop song. It might be the most eclectic album I've heard on the list so far, for better or for worse. It's really side B that leans heavy into it's right turns, so be ready for that. Pretty good otherwise.

Really enjoyed this album particularly the first half. While I haven't delved much into the Jam or Style Council it seems like this album pushes more into the direction Paul Weller would go in his solo work. Nice mix of soul, jazz, and pop and a lot of fun to listen to. Favorite songs The Paris Match (noted the Duo from Everything but the Girl are featured on this), My Ever Changing Moods. Give this one 3 stars

This is one of the worst album I've ever heard of my life. Not only it was boring, but also annoying, out of place and made with bad taste. What the hell? I can't believe this album was actually made. Lame jazz meets unpleasant pop with their friend, the uncomfortable rap song. Seriously, I can't believe at what I just listened.

Vile

I've always found this such an uplifting album full of optimism. Our Favourite Shop may be TSC' masterpiece, but this is equally worthy for the joy it spreads. The two contrasting sides work really well. Weller was pushing it / taking the piss with the jazz club feel on side 1. Flip it over and side 2 makes you want to run free and celebrate life. I still get that buzz almost forty years later. Headstart for Happiness is such a calling card for all that is possible. Infectious.

Utterly smooth and filled with a level of soul that really speaks to you. The pure force of this album really surprised me, and I found myself being enthralled by nearly every track. Solid stuff and is just the right length to perfectly hold your attention and then move on. Faves: The Whole Point Of No Return, My Ever Changing Moods, Here’s One That Got Away, Me Ship Came In!, Headstart For Happiness, The Paris Match, You’re The Best Thing, Mick’s Blessings

Ahh Paul Weller and his then partner DC Lee. Great album with some super tunes on it. Love Mick Talbots Keyboard playing. "The Whole Point of No Return" "The Paris Match" "My Ever Changing Moods" & "Your The Best Thing" highlights but their isn't a bad track on this. I saw Mick Talbot with Jools Holland's Big Band a few years ago. Justifiably on the list!

The vocal performances aren’t my favorite thing ever, but the songs themselves are really great. From the instrumental jazz to the solo piano and voice tracks to some of the more poppy stuff, there’s a surprising amount of variety. Favorite Track(s): “The Paris Match,” “Dropping Bombs On the Whitehouse,” and “Here’s One That Got Away”

The payoff of diminished expectations, eh? As a British indie kid ca. 2000, The Jam were, like The Clash and The Kinks, part of my heritage; when my mates and I made mixtapes for the car in order to impress each other, a Jam track usually found its way onto our exacting compilations. However, The Style Council never got chosen; the only mate of ours who listened to The Style Council did so as an act of genuflection to his hero Paull Weller. This attitude, by my understanding, is pretty common across the UK: The Jam get praised as a key part of the British canon, and The Style Council get dismissed as a peculiarity by a iconic songwriter fleeing from his previous image. In any case, the sophisti-pop, 80s blue-eyed soul, jazzy instrumentals and (gulp) raps each seem, at first glance, a threat rather than an experiment. But ride me sideways, I rather like it. Paul Weller, giving his reasoning for this iconoclasm against The Jam's kinda thing, pointed out that the kids today in the mid-80s were grooving on down to soul, disco, R&B and other genres rooted in black music, so he and his new bandmate Mick Talbot might find exploring such music rewarding. The discerning listener may note that Mick Talbot was formerly the keyboardist for Dexy's Midnight Runners, the great soul champions of British new wave, so The Style Council were not going into these exotic genres that blindly. And Weller makes a decent enough fist of this more soulful style for Café Bleu to work. The album has 5(!) instrumentals, but neither their smoothness nor their jazziness grates. However, songs like The Paris Match (sung by Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl) have moments of real beauty, Strength of Your Nature possesses a fierce pulse, and the rap of A Gospel, remarkably, doesn't embarrass Weller nor the listener, a frankly miraculous turn of events when one contemplates the Wham! Rap and a thousand other sorry stabs at hip-hop by white singers. Now, I said I came into this album with slightly diminished expectations, allowing the album to surprise me with its high quality. So if you read this, I might unintentionally heighten your expectations, possibly leading to a sizeable disappointment. Maybe you should just ignore me.

Surprisingly good! I really liked The Jam and thought this was a good exploration outside the mod-sound into new territory that could have been quite risky. Not all of the tracks are amazing but it's consistent despite the variety of genres and style.

Nice

Interesting. Kind of all over the map in terms of genres. Liked some of it, but not all of it. 3/5 Probably won’t listen again

A 3.5, would have been a 4 but for the rapping

Café Bleu is obviously an album that just tries to do too many things. I don't particularly like the hip hop elements, but the more jazzy stuff is really pleasant. Then again, for some reason the album has stuck with me since I heard it the first time - I just don't know if that's a good or a bad thing.

I liked The Jam (Paul Weller's original band)... I'm not sure about British R&B, personally, but I understand it as a (possibly) important album.

Cool as a cucumber, but maybe a bit bloodless for soul.

The whole time I was just picturing Paul Allen listening to Huey Lewis.

This is honestly up there with The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter for bad albums on this list for me. It thinks it's good, that's what bugs me. It's lazy lounge music sung by pretentious jazzy twats who just have to have an accent in the album title. I tried a few songs, skipped to the "hits" on the album, cleaned up the puke on the floor and had to pull out. Would be a zero if I could. Hard pass.

Not for me. Probably the quickest I forgot an album. Usually if I do this I will try again but nah

nah, not for me

What a wild ride! every kind of genre except death metal it seems. The Rap portion is not so cringy for me. It came out in 1984 (pre Public Enemy, NWA). This is what I’m here for.

A good album, I liked Strength Of Your Nature the most.

Beautiful, and huge variety of styles!

This is pretty cool, easy to listen to, but still engaging.

Got me horny

5/5 Loved this. Given my previous knowledge of Weller's greatness, I naively assumed that The Style Council would be indistinguishable from The Jam. Of course there's some interesting crossovers between the two, but this album plays with jazz and even some reggae-esque beats too. Reminded me a little bit of Arctic Monkeys's controversial departure from their indie sound on their latter albums, particularly with the elevated 'lounge music' feel. Brilliant, will listen again.

Despite the criticism this album has gotten on this app, i really enjoyed it. And im not the type of person who necessarily enjoys new wave music. People were calling Weller's vocals corny and cringy but I loved what he did for this project and how he made it better. Favorite song: My Ever Changing Mood --> I love the emotional piano part on here so much it makes this such an enjoyable song. Plus, Weller did his thing on this song.

This is a really solid album. It reminded me a bit of George Michael, which is a good thing. Not really my regular listening but I enjoyed it a lot.

Loved it from the opening Peanuts piano intro song. Mixture of jazz and rock with some random old school hip hop thrown in for extra why the fuck notness. very cool and unique.

What a treat

What a different album unlike most things I’ve heard. 8/10

5/5 - how have I not come across this before?!

4 meritate! Se non 5

06/19/24 S Tier—————————5 Mick’s Blessing Me Ship Came In! You’re The Best Thing A Tier—————————4 The Whole Point of No Return Blue Cafe Headstart for Happiness The Paris Match Strength of Your Nature Here’s The One That Got Away My Ever Changing Moods A Gospel Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse Council Meetin B Tier—————————3 C Tier—————————2 D Tier—————————1

Even allowing for the fact that it's a personal fave, one believes one can maintain some level of critical objectivity relative to the obvious excellence of this record, which the editors damn with faint praise or are apologetic or maybe just wrong about its uneven qualities. Because it is objectively great throughout. Cut after cut is exploratory and compelling and fun. The contemporized R&B and funk. The lovely jazz bits in the middle. The pure, sweet love ballad, the unabashed dance track/club banger, the gospel inflections, the perfectly curated instrumentation, both synthesized and organic. Even the rap works. It's not "too eclectic for its own good" but rather great becausae of that very eclecticism, which is well integrated and balanced. More importantly: the whole thing drips warmth and humanity, authenticity and affirmation (which builds steadily throughout and culminates beautifully in the last few cuts, as if the band wants us to be happy, wants us to deeply enjoy music and life, in multiple modes, reflecting the artful genre merging and showing how what's great about the classic and traditional and why/where/how they might be upgrade/upcycled. A quibble: the piano solo version of "Ever Changing Moods" (one's own personal song of the century) is a cut below than the full single version, which is a "flawless pop tune" (editors have that right), a masterpiece, a full stop.Bottom line: Weller is serially underrated – an evolver like Bowie, but with better taste, one would argue, and less showoffy/peacocky tendencies. Bowie insists on showing us how cool he is; Weller just shows up cool, again and again. Exploring genres, not trying to remake them in some oddball image. But one will say it again – it wasn't just that one was young and beautiful and smart and hopeful when one first heard this – discovered for and shared with friends and felt both smart and cool for doing that but also learned what one would become as a listener, reflections about which this 1,001 exercise has inspired – but that the music, was/is/remains excellent.

Now this is accessible jazz. Easy great listen.

Despite a slight overall quality drop from the Jam, Style Council have of couse made some great albums too, in particular this one. Very smooth.

I am so sad that I didn't know of this album years and years ago. I absolutely loved it and ended up listening to it three times. Definitely going to be checking out the rest of the band's discography

My Ever Changing Mood Lijepe laganica pjesme

very cool

Reminded me of the amazing Live Aid show in London 1985 - a show I was at working for a London Radio station doing stage site interviews and managed to get Bowie, Brian May and anothers to stop and say a few words - Paul Weller was fantastic that day The Style Council where very popular with the crowd too.

Wow I enjoyed this a lot right from the get-go. There was such a pleasant variety of sounds and genres, and I enjoyed every song on this album, especially the instrumental pieces. In fact, I'm gonna go listen to it again.

Fantastisches Album, jazz, Frauenstimme, richtig gut.

This album is freaking awesome. I can’t believe I hadn’t listen to these guys before I’m gonna have to dig more into this genre.

Nice and cool from the Modfather :) Whilst I really loved The Jam and their unique sound, you can't argue that Paul Weller's voice and writing style is perfectly suited for soul too. Really nice stuff

the listed genre of this album should just be “yes” 10/10

Ooo right from the first track I was very into this! Fuck yeah, I'm here for all the funky jazzy keyboard noodling and fun the Style Council has to give! Oh wow, okay left turn. This is such a diverse album in and of itself. Another left turn! And another! Wow. It should feel like an uncomfortable mishmash of moods and styles that give you whiplash with the constant change up track to track, but you know, somehow it WORKS! I enjoyed every second of this strange fun journey, and I loved not knowing where it was going to take me next. I don't know how they fused and melded so many different vibes into this thing without it feeling like a cloudy confusing clusterfuck. It's absolutely brilliant. I love it, will be listening on loop all day today. Great album, flawlessly crafted.

Excellent, uplifting and elegant. The piano solo version of "Ever Changing Moods" is lovely and this might be one's favorite all-time pop song. The jazz playing is well beyond competent – it swings, in fact – and they don't try and do too much with it. "Cafe Blue" and "Paris Match" are heartbreaking, swooningly so. A classic of sophistication and, as with nearly every Weller program, this looks forward even as it appreciates the best of what's past.

Found my new anthem today

What a hidden pearl. I never heard of this album or the artist, but I fell in love. Such good music, especially the opening song Mick's blessing. Good mix of Jazz and pop.

El nuevo proyecto de Paul Weller, guitarrista y compositor de The Jam. Un excelente disco Mod, que toma un poco de Jazz, un poco de rock, pero sobretodo el espíritu del Muzak para subvertirlo con una capa de ironía.

incredible album

It's definitely just the mood that I'm in because I hit 1500 on chess.com while listening to this album, but what a fun album. It's like a perfectly unique mix of jazz, soul, 80s pop, and even hip-hop. I also learned that paul weller started The Jam, whose albums I've given like twos and threes but this is such a step up from that. My Ever Changing Moods is a great exhibit of the first 3 of this combo and is my favorite on this album. It also reminds me of that prefab sprout album I gave a 5.

This was an unexpected treat! Really great. A lot of very different moods and vibes. Will for sure be returning to this in the near future.

The Style Council er svo vanmetið verkefni. Algjörlega dásamleg plata hjá þeim. Þessi útgáfa af My Ever Changing Moods er stórfengleg og You're The Best Thing er næstfallegasta ástarlag sem ég veit um.

Cafe Blew My Mind

Альбом великолепный. Звучит потрясно, музыка в стиле соул/джаз. Это здорово :)

Not sure if this *really* makes the cut for 5 stars or not, but it brightened my day.

Always loved this album. Grateful for the reminder

Great, would listen more

Good find

Cool variety! I'm used to the full band version of Ever Changing Moods, which is a fantastic song, but this version is definitely good as well.

Alti molto alti, bassi molto bassi

I never realized how jazzy this album is. Plus, guest vocals from Tracey Thorn, and some early-80s rap on A Gospel. When are you going to find the strength of YOUR nature?

Wish I could do 3.5. It’s honestly pretty nice and versatile. Sad girl songs. Romantic. Hmmm maybe round up?

Wild album. A handful of very 80s pop sounding sounds, but then there's like 5 insanely good lounge jazz instrumental tracks. Nailed both genres

wow this is like stevie wonder meets huey lewis and the news, but i kinda dig it. the sound is all over the place and super cheesy, especially that incredibly cringey rap track, but it's kind of a jam (see what i did there) favorites: mick's blessings, the whole point of no return, my ever changing moods, strength of your nature, you're the best thing, headstart for happiness

Lots of genre bending which is very fun. The rap song felt really out of place though.

I was really enjoying this one until "A Gospel". Lots of loungey jazz. Vocal-less, chorus-less tracks where warranted. Second half was quite disappointing though. 3.6/5

3.5

Fun lil 80s bops

After disbanding his previous band, The Jam, singer-songwriter Paul Weller formed a new group with keyboardist Mick Talbot called The Style Council. It was a short-lived outfit that allowed Paul to branch out and explore different artistic avenues, and after a mini-LP, Café Bleu was the debut that would set the tone. What did we find in the café? Well, I found this to be a sophisti-pop album where the synthesizers largely took a back seat in favor of more jazz and soul influences. On side one, there is a degree of well-detailed compositions and warm production where Paul thrived in the ambiance. Tracks like "Mick's Blessings" and "Blue Café" were exquisite pieces with soft glossy guitars, keyboards, and ensemble arrangements. Not to mention, they made effective use of guest appearances such as Everything But the Girl coming in on "Strike the Match" and the horns adding to the tropical bounce of "Me Ship Came In!" But then came the start of side two with "A Gospel", where between the clunky rapping of Brian Beaton and the blocky percussion, I was snapped back to reality and reminded this album came out in the early 1980s. This was followed by the synthesizer blare of "Strength of Your Nature", and I was even less enthused with how dated the second half became. "You're the Best Thing" was a decent enough song to course-correct, but at that point the damage was done. I get that Paul was trying various styles with this group, but not every sound has aged well in hindsight. Suffice it to say, Café Bleu was an intriguing case of a man trying his best to break away from the creative limitations of his last group. While the result is far from perfect, it is admirable.

While I was listening to this I thought it was just a short album and autoplay kicked into the next album. Turns out the latter half is just completely different, whats nice is that it does both pretty well. I really enjoyed the first half, I got a lot of lo-fi smooth jazz vibes and then the latter half with all its 80's style pop funky energy was a treat. Cafe Bleu is probably my favorite off the album, and A Gospel just for the enjoyable whiplash.

What a treat this album was! Fun jazzy lounge music in the first half, pure 80s nonsense in the second. A Gospel hits like a brick and the album really doesn’t let up from there. The two halves are completely incongruous with each other and I wonder why the album was made that way? Either way I enjoyed the heck out of it!

This album is all over the place. Not bad though.

Stylish

Really like this new-to-me album!

You know, I’m giving it points on diversity and groove alone.

I respect the boldness to completely change your musical direction. Hip-hop, jazz, and cheesy pop? Sign me up!

Quite nice actually

Solid

Omg, j’t’avais complètement oublié, toi! J’me souviens que j’avais eu bien du fun en t’écoutant, j,vais te donner un 4 pour ta patience

I don't know what it is about whatever this type of music is but it's great. It was all over the place genre-wise and I enjoyed everywhere it went.